Commercial buildings typically include large open office areas which are divided into smaller work spaces or workstations by any of a number of panel systems that have been developed therefor. These panel arrangements typically employ upright space-dividing wall panels which serially connect together through two-panel straight or angled connections, or through suitable three or four-panel connections, to subdivide the office area into a plurality of smaller workstations of desired size and configuration. Such panels are typically less than floor-to-ceiling height, and cooperate with other furniture components to define an equipped workstation. These components may include worksurfaces, file cabinets, shelf units and the like which mount directly on and are supported by the wall panels, and may also include free-standing furniture components such as tables, chairs and file cabinets.
In the known arrangements of panel systems, the individual panel assemblies have a variety of configurations. For example, in some arrangements, the individual panels are themselves supported directly in load-bearing relationship with a floor by support feet or glides. In other arrangements, serially-adjacent panel assemblies are interconnected through intermediate upright support posts or poles which bear the weight of the panels and in turn are maintained in load-bearing engagement with the floor. The present invention is an improved panel arrangement of the latter-mentioned post-type having intermediate upright support posts.
More specifically with respect to known post-type panel arrangements, the intermediate post comprises an upright support tube, often of cylindrical configuration, which tube engages cooperating parts on the adjacent panels to structurally connect and support the panels thereon.
In one post-type panel arrangement disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,134,826, some panels may extend from floor to a height substantially above beltline height to define a fixed-height space-dividing wall and other panels may include a shorter panel section having one or more fixed rectangular panels vertically stacked thereon which panels are connected at their opposite ends to the upright support posts. This arrangement, however, requires a variety of pre-constructed rectangular panels to vary the height of the wall. Additionally, this system does not readily accommodate cabling at base and/or beltline heights.
In another arrangement disclosed in EP 0 050 241 A1, a wall is constructed from a plurality of spaced apart uprights having upper and lower horizontal members which have their opposite ends connected between the uprights to define a rectangular frame. Each mutually adjacent pair of panels share an intermediate one of the uprights. Such a wall panel arrangement, however, does not allow for ready modification of the height of the wall panel to accommodate the varying needs of each workstation.
In view thereof, it is an object of the invention to provide a wall panel system having a vertically adjustable modular height which is adjusted by the addition or removal of extension panel assemblies on to or off of a lower or base wall panel supported on a floor. It is another object that the modular height be readily adjustable while minimizing the number of component parts which thereby allows for ready assembly and disassembly of the panel extensions. It is a further object that the wall panel system accommodate a variety of workstation components and equipment such as shelves, desks and windows therethrough.
It is also an object that electrical and/or communication cabling be readily accommodated and accessible in a base raceway or a beltline raceway whereby the necessary cabling is routable both vertically within the base panel between the base and beltline raceways, and horizontally through horizontally adjacent raceways of serially adjacent panels. It is still a further object that the base raceway be defined by the base panel and the beltline raceway be addable to the base panel by providing an extension panel disposed at beltline height.
The present invention relates to a post-type space-dividing wall panel system having a plurality of base panels serially connected one with the other so as to define a vertically enlarged wall supported on a floor. Preferably, the base panel is enclosed by outward facing planar surfaces and is approximately 32 inches high. Each serially adjacent pair of base panels is connected one with the other by an upright lower support post or pole which is positioned in load-bearing relationship with the floor and is disposed intermediate the opposing ends of serially adjacent base panels. Thus, each base panel is supported by a pair of spaced apart support posts. The base panels are connected to the intermediate support posts in two-panel straight or angled configurations to divide an office space into a plurality of workstations.
To allow for modular adjustment of the height of the wall panels, the lower support posts are hollow tubular members which open upwardly. Extension posts or poles are coaxially inserted within the upper end of the lower support post in a bayonet connection such that the extension posts extend upwardly therefrom. To define an extension panel assembly, a horizontal cross rail or member is connected between a spaced apart pair of the extension posts. The extension posts and cross member thereby define a downwardly opening U-shaped frame which seats within the upper ends of the spaced pair of lower support posts supporting the base panel.
To further increase the height of the wall panel, each of the extension posts is a tubular member which opens upwardly therefrom so as to receive a generally identical arrangement of extension posts and a cross rail, i.e. a U-shaped extension frame which are seated within the open upper ends and extend upwardly from the lower extension panel. In this post-type arrangement, each cross rail of a serially adjacent pair of extension panel assemblies is connected to or shares a common extension post. Preferably, the extension posts have different modular lengths, for example, of 10 or 16 inches, to vary the height of a particular extension panel assembly.
To accommodate power distribution assemblies within the wall panel, each extension panel assembly includes a open interior defined by the extension posts, the cross member and the upper edge of the base panel which open interior generally defines a horizontal raceway at approximately beltline height. Additionally, the base panel is connected to the lower support post so as to be spaced upwardly from the floor and defines a generally horizontal base raceway between the floor and the bottom edge of the base panel.
To accommodate cabling, mounting means are provided for mounting lower and upper panel covers in overlying engagement with the outside faces of the base panel and each extension panel assembly. In particular, the mounting means comprise clips which connect the upper and lower edges of the lower and upper cover panels respectively to the base panel and the extension panel so that the panel covers are spaced outwardly away from the opposing surfaces of the base panel and the extension panel. The base panel space between the interior surface of the cover panels and the opposing exterior surface of the base panel defines a vertical passageway where cabling is layable within this space so as to extend between the base and beltline raceways. Similarly, the space between the interior surface of the upper cover panel and the exterior surfaces of the extension frame permits the passage of cabling horizontally therethrough so that cabling is extendable from the open interior of the extension panel first through the space formed between the extension post and the upper panel cover and then into a serially adjacent wall panel similarly formed with a space between the extension post and the cover panel.
Other objects and purposes of the invention, and variations thereof, will be apparent upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.